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Walton
Walton-on-the-Hill, usually known as simply Walton, is an area of Liverpool, England, situated to the north of Anfield and the east of Bootle and Orrell. History To the Saxons, the original Celtic Britons were 'Walas' or 'Wealas', from which the name Wales derives. Similarly Walton could be 'Walas'-town and this is why it is one of the biggest districts in Liverpool (in terms of size) today, as it was an old town. Walton lost it independence in 1836 when it was made part of Liverpool Borough Council. Walton has a History of Animal Attractions. In 1884 the Liverpool Inner City Zoological Park & Gardens opened on what is now the Cavendish Retail Park. Its star attraction was "Pongo", a Chimpanzee who lived in the Monkey House. The Zoo itself was known for its large bronze Liver Birds which sat atop of the entrance gates, and its splendid beauty. The gardens closed in the early 1900s and the only surviving remains is the Ticket Booth, which is now a cafe beside The Plough public house. The Rice Lane City Farm is also housed in Walton, this is situated at the end of Rawcliffe Road. The Prince William pub on Rice Lane, which has the nickname of "The Sod House", was given the nickname by King Edward VII, who after making a royal visit to the previously mentioned Zoo, entered the establishment for refreshments, and proclaimed the pub to be a "Sod House" for reasons unknown. An alternative, or perhaps associated, explanation is that the landlord used clods of earth ("sods") draped over the beer barrels to keep the beer cool. He would water the sods and heat would be drawn from the barrels as the water evaporated. The Shell Garage on Rice Lane (now Elite Fleet Car Dealership) was once the Official Workshop of Ferrari for their raceteam when competing at Aintree Grand Prix course in the 1950s. Walton-on-the-Hill's Town Hall was demolished in the 1960s to make way for the Queens Drive fly-over. Though no longer there, the side wall, which includes the name etched in stone, still stands on the northbound side of the A59 at the fly-over. The wall is currently owned by a garage which occupies the space. Walton also housed the recently demolished Queens Drive Baths, which until 1981, was "Olympic Standard" in its size. Walton Hospital traditionally had a high reputation for neurosurgical work and houses a pain research centre. Walton is the location in which two-year-old James Bulger was brutally murdered by two ten-year-old boys on February 12, 1993. Geography The Walton area shares borders with other areas, some considered inner-city and some considered outer suburbs, these include Everton, Anfield, Kirkdale, Clubmoor, Fazakerley, and Norris Green. The area also borders the area of Bootle which is in the neighbouring Sefton. Politics The Walton constituency was long a bastion of the left in the Labour Party with a Marxist influence stretching right back to the 1950s. This came to a head when the Walton by-election in 1991 saw the official Labour Party candidate, Peter Kilfoyle, defeat Militant Tendency supporter, Lesley Mahmood, in the by-election caused by the death of left-wing MP, Eric Heffer. Current M.P.'s Representing Walton-on-the-Hill are Labour's Peter Kilfoyle MP (Warbreck). Current Councillors in power and charge of Walton are The Liberal Democrats. Economy Hartley's Village was built in the 19th Century to house workers from the local Hartley's Jam Factory. Commissioned by Hartley himself, the Village and Jam Works are still there today, providing an insight into Walton's industrial past. Moulded Plastics Company, Dunlop, had their UK head office and manufacturing plant based on what is now the Cavendish Retail Park (off Rice Lane, opposite Walton Hospital) until the mid-1990s. In September 1980 a severe fire at the plant closed Rice Lane and residents were told to stay indoors due to hazardous atmospheric pollution. The fire caused so much damage that the plant had to be demolished, and only a 1/3 of the site remained until its closure. The building used as the main headquarters was left abandoned for many years until a Chinese restaurant was opened in the late 1990s on the site. The last remaining plant, situated on Cavendish Drive, was demolished in 2004 to make way for a housing estate. Category:Liverpool